Middle Tennessee (2-0-0) beat Jackson State (0-0-2) Thursday night at Vanderbilt Soccer Complex, winning 6-2. Although the score ended lopsided, it wasn’t until the 69th minute that the Blue Raiders began to put the game away. Once the team caught their second wind, goals flooded the scoreboard.
The six goals in Thursday’s matchup was the most points scored in a game since 2013 when they beat Alabama A&M 8-0.
Coming into the game, the plan for the Blue Raiders was to keep the ball for longer periods of time in order to create opportunities.
In an interview earlier in the week with “Sidelines,” coach Ashton Rhoden expressed that keeping the ball to create shots for the Blue Raiders will in return prevent their opponent from generating chances.
The players followed through with their coach’s game plan as the Blue Raiders held the ball long enough to produce 33 shots with 15 of those on goal.
Effectively, Jackson State only got off nine shots with just five on goal.
Freshman Sam Debien found the net in 16th minute to get things started, scoring her first career goal in the process.
Scoring would standstill until the 51st minute when Kerri Cook scored off a header; although, celebration would be short-lived as the Tigers punched their ticket on the scoreboard one minute later.
But just as Tiger fans started to get excited, they would commit an own goal, making it 3-1.
However, the Tigers managed to keep their momentum as they scored again in the 69th minute to cut the lead to 3-2.
This was the closest the score would get as the Blue Raiders would catch fire on a first-career goal by Salera Jordan and two netters by Abbie Brown in the final 20 minutes to put the game out of reach and give MTSU their second win of the season.
The Blue Raiders get two needed days of rest before facing No. 1 Florida State at home Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
For more sports stories, follow us at www.mtsusidelines.com, on Facebook at MTSU Sidelines and on Twitter at @Sidelines_Sport.
To contact Sports Editor Connor Ulrey (@connorulrey), email sports@mtsusidelines.com.
